Zilla
by Occea
Summary: When a young witch finds herself in the brink of the death, what a ironic idea that a ranger comes and saves her. As she is accepted to be an apprentice, she struggles with her real demons inside and outside.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, this is Occea, a weird twelve year old girl who loves to write. This is technically my

Second fan-fic, as I deleted my other story that I decided was pretty crappy. Please R&R, thanks.

PROLOUGE

It felt like one of those nights where you knew something would go wrong, a young 14 year old girl thought to herself. She pretended to be a boy, and that never settled well when townspeople found that part out, along when they also discovered that she was wanted person, it never ended well.

She worked at the inn, cleaning tables, chopping wood, anything that would allow her to stay an extra night, no serious business or trouble. But yet, the feeling she had kept bothering her. Normally she felt queasy after she came out of the inn filled with drunks and sweat from a long day of work, but not before. Her mother always told her to trust her gut, no matter what. She had done that alright, seven times, and each time ended up with a warning sign and banishment. It wasn't her fault she was born as a witch; the ability to blend shadows, conjure fireballs, control water. It was a curse that put her through this.

Since she wasn't able to use magic openly, she would often ask the older boys how to fight, hunt, track, and she even used to be a thief. She could walk as lightly as a cat, often using magic to her use. She had learned how to knife throw from her grandfather who used to do it for fun when he was younger, along with sword fighting. All of these things came in play when she needed it most, when she was powerless.

She sighed, it was probably nothing, just probably a drunk getting mad, starting a fight, etc. She made her way back from the old abandoned farm she was using for now as a shelter, walking past the stables. She glanced in, nothing really special about the horses, tall, brown, black, dull. She continued on. She went to the well and brought up a bucket of water, spilling some on her shirt. She came through the back way, making sure not to disturb the early drinkers. As she opened a door, a voice came to greet her, "Ello Zach, thanks for bringing the water, need it for coffee!" the voice said, which belonged to Jeremy, one of her only friends. Zach was her fake name, Zilla being her real name, she nodded, not saying anything, and smiled. She talked when nesessarray, otherwise she didn't. It was always a risk to see if they would see through her disguise.

She put the water bucket down by the door, making sure it didn't block the entrance. She stuck her head out the door, peeking to see how many customers were there. So far only eight, but yet it was only five o'clock. She looked down at the bar, seeing if there were any orders yet, only one. Fantastic, she hated attention being drawn to herself. She walked all the way out and picked up the paper, it read Sterling table 13, lamb stew. She glanced over and saw the figure; he was dressed in a black shirt and pants, a sword hanging from his belt. Something looked oddly familiar about the figure, but she couldn't place it… yet.

She stuck her head back in the kitchen and called, "JEREMY, where is the lamb stew for table 13?" She yelled in her boys' voice, which sounded very convincing. "Cooper is getting it out of the stove," He called back. Cooper was the owner of the inn, and a pretty nice and generous man, very justice, just don't piss him up. Cooper came up with the bowl on a tray, his practically bald head glistening with sweat from the stove. "Here you go Zach, its hot, make sure you warn him 'bout it." He said, nodding to himself. Zilla nodded in response, already out in the inn with the stew. She walked back into the corner where table thirteen was, and put the stew down. Before the man could dig into it, she warned him it was hot. The man looked up at her face with a dark brown pair of eyes, a snarl forming in his mouth. Then a realization crossed his face. He stood up suddenly, yelling at the top of his lung one word that haunted her life forever, "WITCH!" Knocking the bowl of stew over too, some of it burning her own skin.

Cooper and Jeremy ran out from the kitchen, Cooper with a knife in hand, Jeremy oddly enough with a frying pan. The inn was silent, the man panting, Zilla glaring into his eyes. Cooper was the first to react, "Zach, who is this man!" He half shouted angrily, the other questioned. The man answered before Zilla could respond. "I'm Sterling, a man who has seen the wicked this Witch has done!" He screamed, terror and anger covering his face. Zilla could feel the stares of the people, now more people from the street filled up, hearing the yelling going on. They were not staring at her, but rather her own hand. She looked down, and saw a small ball of fire coming off.

"Witch" a murmur went through the crowd, becoming louder and louder until one after another screamed, "Kill the WITCH!" It was Sterling who attacked first. Using his hands, he swung a roundhouse blow, aiming for her face. She quickly ducked under it, jabbing her elbow into his stomach, and then conjured a small fume of smoke and casted it in his face, making him blind for the moment. Then using the plate on the table, she whacked him across the head, rendering him unconscious. She retreated, aiming to go through the kitchen and out while everyone was in shock. She sprinted across the room, only meeting a whack in the face with a metal pan, a cut opening up above her eyebrow, a bloody lip and nose, and a distant voice shouting at her, recognized as Jeremy's, one of her only friends in the world. "Why, Zach? Why? Why didn't you tell me you were a witch, a girl?" The rest was a blur, as she felt herself fall to the ground, head hitting the edge of the bar.

She tried to fight back when feeling herself get dragged across the room, when she got one hand free, she conjured a fireball, and not caring what happened, sent it flying through the air, immediately setting fire to the inn. One or two cursed as the flames licked at their lives, destroying the inn bit by bit.

She was left alone now, mind on a brink of darkness, with sweat and blood falling from her face. A beam fell close to her, knocking a table down on her. She grimaced in pain as it hit her ribs, probably injuring them, o breaking one. A piece of wood flew through the air, and hit her head, allowing the darkness to consume her and pain overflows her.

Gillan saw the plume of smoke escape from the small town of Lae ahead. He urged his horse, Blaze, faster, planning on saving whoever was trapped in the building. What happened, who got injured? Questions filled his mind, more and more each one sounding like Will, his mentor's apprentice.

So yea… my first chapter of this fans fiction. I normally make something really stupid, put too much detail in, too less detail in, it all really depends. If you have any tips to make it better, let me know, or actually any tip at all. I am open to suggestions for later in the book, but my crazy mind has started to fill in the chapters.

Give me your opinion as well if you would like. Hope you somewhat enjoyed. =)

-Occea


	2. The Ranger Savior

The Ranger Savior

Gilan made Blaze go into a full out sprint, planning to see if anyone was left in the building. He was on his way back from the annual ranger gathering, making his way back to Meric Fief, his own fief.

He rode into the small town of Lae, only to see the inn on fire and no one was there to put it out. It was almost like they wanted it to burn. Either that or everyone was trapped inside, which would be extremely unlucky. He practically jumped of Blaze, and ran towards the inn. He tried to open the door, but found that it wouldn't budge. He ran towards the back of the inn where there was normally a cookers entrance. He found it only slightly stuck, then ramming his shoulder into it twice, it swung open to reveal a fiery mess with smoke and shambles of wood. Coughing at first, he then took the end of his cloak and put it over his mouth to prevent coughing. Dropping down to a crouch, he made his way through the mess, his eyes watering and nose burning. He made his way to the left side of the inn, closest to the bar and saw nothing. He glanced to the right corner, pretty sure that no one was-thankfully- in here. He saw two bodies, both unmoving, one smaller than the other. He made his way as quickly as his crouch would allow him, now slight tears running down his cheeks from the smoke. He saw the two bodies, one with short hair, slight build and blood covering their face. They couldn't be older than 15 or 16. He quickly glanced at the other one, a much older man with seemingly no physical abuse to his face. He quickly guessed that they were father and child, and immediately grabbed the child. He stopped crouching and as soon as he grabbed the child, he ran through the smoke, coughing and burning eyes, through the door and ran a few more paces until he was out of the fiery blaze, eyes streaming, nose and throat burning. He was about to go back into the blaze to grab the father, but then the inn crashed, blocking all hopes of recuing him. Perhaps it was luck he made it out in time, he thought to himself. But now, I need to take care of the child.

He got up and grabbed the kid in bride-maid style, running toward Blaze. He let out a whistle motioning Blaze to follow, and ran to a creek he saw earlier on his way. He laid the kid down, and grabbing his canteen of water, dumped it on their face. The soot fell off, revealing a boy face, a cut over the eyebrow and a bloody lip. He went to Blaze to grab the supplies to clean up and to patch the cuts. He quickly wet a cloth in disinfectant and began cleaning the cuts. There was no doubt that they were probably infected with dirt and other dirty stuff. It would definitely hurt, and it was better to do it while he was unconscious. Cleaning the wounds up, he put down a bedroll and dragged the boy over on it, letting him rest. Gilan didn't want to start a fire, since whoever set the inn on fire could've been a bandit group and didn't want it to be an obvious giveaway that they were here.

He opened up his pack and pulling out a stale piece of bread, began eating. He cast a look over at the boy, seeing if there was any chance of him waking up. Seeing that there was none, he finished eating his bread and looked up at the sun. He had about forty minutes left until it would be completely dark. He was going to see if there was any chance of footprints left by bandits. Grabbing his long bow from where it stood propped up against a tree, set off to see what he could find.

_"Zilla? Where are you?" A voice ranged out across the old farmhouse. "Right here!" _ _a voice from behind startled the speaker. Turning around, she saw her sister practically come out of a shadow. "Don't use your magic without anyone of us knowing. We could get killed." She scoffed. Zilla rolled her eyes. "You don't need to worry Juniper, no one saw me." She lied. She had secretly just told her best friend Gaius about her powers. They weren't supposed to mention it to anybody, but she trusted him. With her life. "Anyways, it's time for supper!" Juniper called out joyously. _

_ It was that night when they came, the towns guard, betrayed by her best friend Gaius. They set fire to the house, yelling Witch as they went. They caught her younger brother, Zach, and her older sister, Juniper. They already killed her parents. Zilla had escaped just in time, blending in with the shadows and running away to the woods. Leaving behind everything. _

Zilla woke up in a start, sweating in her clothes that strangely smelled of…. smoke? She thought back to the blazing pain over her eyebrow, the smoke, than looked at the inn. It was in ruins, a puff of smoke circling it; finally it came back to her. She groaned, not knowing what happened or who took her in. She looked around, and spotted a horse. The horse looked at her, as if saying, _you should be asleep right now, you know._ She shook her head. Horses didn't talk. She stood up suddenly, and immediately felt dizzy and nauseous. She made her way to the creek that she had cleaned so many times in and felt a single tear fall down her face. She finished cleaning her face off with the fresh and cool water, feeling a burn when it hit her cuts and burns. She sighed. She was leaving another place yet again, over a stupid person from her stupid past. She was going to run away again. She had figured this camp was a guard, or if anything, Sterling. But she couldn't help but remember not seeing the horse earlier. Had the horse arrived latter? She shook her head, a slight dizziness feeling coming again.

She had nothing with her, so she was just going to run as she was. Looking in the direction of the sun setting, she began jogging over, than stopped, feeling the nausea returning. She chose to ignore it, and continued running to the woods, using the shadows to blend in.

Gilan had found nothing of use, a mass mumble jumble of footprints, but they were too thin to be an actual bandit shoe-print. He checked the houses, and besides nobody home, nothing was taken, no blood splatters. He was about to go look on the west side of the village, where another woods were, when he heard a neigh. He recognized it to be Blazes call, and went straight over, not hesitating. After all, he was right to trust his horse. She was a ranger horse, and a pretty smart one too. He ran over, and looked immediately towards the boy, or more correctly- where the boy should've been. He glanced at Blaze, who shook her mane saying, "_She went that way" _Blaze neighed, shrugging her head towards the east side, right by a section of the woods. "What do you mean by girl?" Gilan questioned his horse. Maybe Blaze thought it was a she, but it was definitely a boy. Had short hair, small build, but then again, Will did. There were no signs of sprouting breasts as there should be with girls her age. It was definitely not a girl. As if reading his thoughts, Blaze shook her mane, dismissing the thought. He didn't bother packing up. After all, how long should it take to get a boy who had just been in a fire with probably a minor concussion? He shrugged. He could easily catch him and bring him to a family. He hoped on Blaze and made his way towards the woods, following the freshly made tracks.

**Sooo….. what did you think? You should always trust a ranger horse from more apples to gender problems. Please R&R. I should have the next chapter in the next few days. If anyone has any idea on how Gilan and Zilla should meet, please share with me. **

** Yoohooha: Thank you so much for the review**** It is always nice to have a much older, superior opinion. No one has ever said that about my writing, and it makes me feel really good. I think no-one could(especially fan-girls) call themselves a Ranger's Apprentice fan without liking Gilan, I mean, who can't? **


	3. An Interesting Meet

**An Interesting Meet**

**Here's my next chapter, I had a problem with my computer, than a light bulb went off and I decided to restart my computer. I meant to upload this a few days ago, but better late than early!**

Zilla could hear the sound of a horse coming from behind her. _Darn knight,_ she thought to herself. She looked around at her position in the woods. She wasn't very far in, maybe a fourth of a mile. It was nice and shady, perfect for blending in and using her powers, along with it being almost completely dark. There were a few climbable trees in her area, but she didn't think she had enough time to climb them. Reacting quickly, she went over to stand beside a tree. She pressed up against the bark, feeling it on her back. She felt in her mind for something dark and sadistic that could allow her to use dark magic. She racked her mind, finding the memories of all the people she trusted, now gone, her home, burned down or falling apart, then the screams of all the people who'd fallen because of her, her brother and sister, friends, parents. Grabbing onto that, she focused everything on it, than felt a slight tingle in her hands. Then the tingle moved along her body, engulfing her body. In a few seconds time, her body was engulfed with shadows, blending her in with the woods. She wouldn't be able to hold it for long, but hopefully just long enough for the rider to go past. She heard the hoof-beats enter the woods, coming nearer and nearer to where she stood concealed.

Gilan entered the woods, the tracks fresh and muddy, from around five minutes ago. He went a little more in, stopping where the tracks stopped and disappeared. He looked to the left and too the right, with no sign of the boy was. He looked up, remembering how his old mentor always told him that nobody ever bothered to look up. After his eyes scanned the tree and found nothing, he moved along the path, Blaze following him. Blaze neighed softly after they passed a great big tree off to the left. Gilan asked in a whisper, "Where at?" Blaze nodded her head in the direction of the big tree on the left. Gilan nodded his head, the movement almost unnoticeable. He walked past the tree, planning to make the boy come out after he seemingly "disappeared." He walked a little more ways, and then pulled up the hood on his ranger cloak, a green mottled cloak used to break up the human shape to blend in with the surroundings. He was the best unseen mover in the corps, perhaps the one exception being Halt, his old mentor.

He told Blaze to keep going down the path, so then it would seem as if he was leaving. He went into a thicket on the side of the woods, scanning the area for any sign of movement.

Zilla heard the knight or guard, whichever one, leave, just in time too. The shadow started to retreat back into her, revealing herself. She took a deep breath. Even though the horse and rider left, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. She peered around the tree, trying to see if she could see anyone. She turned her head towards a thicket a little ways across the woods. She narrowed her eyes, she thought she saw something move, but then it disappeared. She turned and looked at the other side, again seeing nothing. She heard a twig snap behind her, and she immediately turned around, a little too fast, a dizzy feeling upon her. She saw what looked like a cloaked person, in the middle of the path. The figure was wearing a sword and two knifes. The figure straightened up, showing how tall and lanky they really were. The figure called out to her, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. You're injured and alone. Come out." The voice said, revealing a males voice. It was calm and reassuring. She decided to act along, pretending to be helpless. "How can I trust you?" she questioned, again putting on the boy voice. He responded, walking closer, "I'm a king's ranger, surely you have heard of us?" She sure had, they were people who supposedly use dark magic. She knew that wasn't true, though. She walked towards him, acting hurt until she got close enough. She heard him whistle a high note, than heard a horse trotting back. "I have a camp set up back there; you should go back and rest." He said, pointing a thumb back that way. "You can ride Blaze, too." He added, now motioning the horse coming back. She nodded and offered a little smile.

She got closer, eyeing the knives at his waist. She started to ask a question, "Umm, how was I in-" she stopped there, planning to catch him off guard. She lounged forward, grabbing his knives out of their scabbard, and twirling out, so now she was armed equally, two knives vs. a sword. Well somewhat equal.

Gilan was caught off guard, not expecting him to grab his Saxe and throwing knife. The boy probably didn't know how to use them anyway. Out of habit, he grabbed his sword out from his scabbard, releasing a sound of steel on leather. He gave it a good twirl in his hand, loosening up his wrist. "I don't want to hurt you, I want to help you." He said honestly. The boy sneered, "Yea right. You were probably offered some kind of reward for my capture or death." What was he talking about? He would definitely ask him some questions after this was settled. "I have no clue what you're talking about. I wasn't sent here to take off a 15 year-old boys head. I found you in a fire and pulled you out, simple as that." He said.

Suddenly the boy made a move, considering talk time over. He made a lounge, switching it to a side cut. Gilan moved to block it, leaving his left side open. The boy took the smaller knife, the throwing knife, and tried to cut him on the exposed side, but Gilan was too quick, jumping back leaving the knife to cut open air. Gilan immediately cursed. If Halt ever found out that he was given trouble by a fifteen or fourteen year old boy, he would never hear the end of it. Gilan took the offensive side now. He aimed for a side cut, but was surprised when the boy caught it, using the double knife defense, one knife supporting the other. The boy however, didn't have enough strength to wrench his sword out of Gilans hand. Gilan immediately twisted his sword to the right, knocking the supporting knife out of his hand. Now left with the Saxe knife, Zilla considered surrendering. But she wouldn't, even if it meant she would die. She felt nauseous, probably concussed. She immediately tried attacking with the Saxe, reaching for an overhand cut, which was fairly stupid in her opinion, but yet she wasn't thinking properly. Gilan easily parried it, knocking it out of his hand. He had the boy at sword point now, pointing into his throat. Zilla swallowed. She was getting really nervous and scared at this point, trying to keep the one thing that always caused trouble at times like this, her fire element.

Finally, the ranger said something. "Now, would you please get on Blaze so then we can go back and eat some stew?" He asked with a smile on his face. A confused look came over Zilla's face. The man she just tried to kill invited her to eat with him. Gilan saw this look and couldn't help but laugh. "You were doing pretty well with fighting me. You're probably not thinking correctly with the concussion, though. But yes, even though you did just try to lob my head off, I still want to help you." Zilla nodded, and asked awkwardly, "Should I get on the horse now?" Gilan nodded and went to Blaze. He whispered "Brown eyes," which was Blazes ranger code word.

"Go on, then," He said happily, waving her onto the horse. She got on him hesitantly, feeling as if the horse was saying, _why are you so jumpy? _Gilan then said the word, "follow" and Blaze happily began trotting down the path.

"So, I'm going to go look for firewood. Could you please not try to run away? Blaze here will tell me where you went." Gilan said, making his way to the woods to grab possible things to burn. Gilan made sure she didn't get the cuts re-infected, cleaning them up.

Gilan came back five minutes later, ranger cloak trailing behind him and a bundle of wood in his hands. He was in deep thought; replaying the fight they had and how she hid do well. He was considering an apprentice, and he seemed like a likely candidate. He looked over and looked at him. He said his name was Zach, nothing else. He would have to get more information first, of course. He laid down the sticks in a stack, looking for something to light them with. He went by the stream, looking for a rock he could use. He found one, turning around, he almost dropped it in surprise.

There was Zach, seemingly nursing a flame in his hand, casting it into the pile of sticks, which almost immediately set into flames.

"Zach?" Gilan called nervously. He saw Zach look at him, _a- oh crap_ look on his face. Gilan ran over, and saw Zach tense up, preparing to either fight or flee.

"Zach? Would you care to err, explain what I just saw?" He asked, not sure of what else to say.

Zilla was confused. This was the first person to actually ask her why she was nursing fire and hadn't tried to kill her. She felt as if she could trust this ranger, who said his name was Gilan. There was also something that made him attractive. His tall stature, the messy brown hair*, the green eyes*.

She decided to tell him everything about her past, mostly, leaving out the part of being wanted in a few fiefs. Gilan listened patiently, showing emotions when she said her friends betrayed her, getting her parents killed. Then she explained how it was born into the family, how she could access all four elements eventually, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. That the reason he couldn't see her before was because she had used the earth element to shroud herself in shadow.

"Wow, that's quite a journey Zach." He said eyebrows up, drinking a cup of coffee. There were definitely no bandits around, as Zach had explained.

Zilla blushed a little. She still hadn't told him that she was in fact a she. She let out a small laugh, no longer using her male voice. Gilan looked confused at first, and then Zilla answered the look she was seeing. "I'm a she, Ranger Gilan. I always act like a he; it's more common for boys to know how to fight rather than girls."

Gilan immediately turned a look at Blaze. She seemed to say _I told you so!_ Gilan shook his head. Then asked, "Then what's your real name?" Zilla hesitated for a second. She had never told anybody her real name. But she could trust Gilan, she knew she could. "My real name is Zilla Dykstrak." She stated. Gilan nodded at first, making sure the name would stick in his mind. Then he started to think about how Zilla already knew the double-knife defense, how to fight, and with no doubt, possess most ranger skills. "Zilla," He said, catching her attention as she was looking at the flame. She looked up, grey eyes into green. "How did you learn how to fight like that? What other skills do you possess?" He asked. He was very curious. Not many girls could have the guts to stand up to a ranger, even boys, and actually try to kill one of them. He saw Zilla think about it for a few seconds before answering. "My father and grandpa both taught me how to fight, and then my grandpa passed away, leaving my father to teach me how to fight with a sword. I was taught how to track and hunt when I was in town, pretending to be a boy. I'm not the best shooter; I tend to work better with knives. I can walk and blend in pretty well; I did use to be a thief." She said, stopping when she saw Gilan's expression. She added quickly, "I didn't steal anything major- just a few coins from drunks."

Gilan took it all in. She had all characteristics of rangers, mostly. She would be the first female ranger, which could prove to be a task. He would have to ask permission from the corps commander, Crowley, and he could always saw no. Then there was his old mentor, Halt, and who knows how well he could cope with it. Then there was the most important part, would Zilla want to become a ranger? She could easily say no and walk away, Then there was the question of how old she was. She looked like fifteen, but he wasn't sure.

"Hey Zilla, how old are you?" He asked casually.

"I'm fourteen, turning fifteen in a few days ironically." She answered back casually, still looking at the flame. That was good; Gilan thought to himself, she would be the perfect age, now there was the main question.

"Zilla, would you like to be my apprentice and leave your run-away life behind?"

**There, the end of the chapter. A little long. I meant to upload this a few days ago, but some inconveniences came along. **

** There's always the chance Zilla could say no and burn Gilan up. That would make an interesting chapter… Thanks for reading; I'll try for an earlier update than this time.**

***- I looked up the book picture of Gilan and it showed brown hair, and I just went with green eyes.**

**Elvishrangerwolf: Thanks, I try my best**

**Yoohooha: Thanks, I'll try my best to update as much as I can **


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